Sword Art Online: The Titan Shifter
by vbarreiro
Summary: Whilst exploring an anomaly in the system, Kirito, Asuna and Heathcliff discover a beast, which turns out to be the teen Eren Jaeger. This brings up several questions. Why is he here? How did he arrive? And why are friends and foes alike targetting him, placing Kirito and Asuna in the middle of the conflict?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everybody! (And yeah, I hope that with time, that "everybody" includes a lot of people.) **

**As some of you may know, I have not added to my other Fanfic, The Spirit Rasengan, in a while, and I apolologize for that. Twice already, the program I use has been deleted, and each time, I lost 7,000+ words of a very special chapter I was making. I will get back to it, but I want to see if I can get my files back first. **

**Anyhow, I decided to write a new fanfic, while I got over my lost chapters, and I recently saw Sword Art Online, so I wanted to try that. Of course, I enjoy making crossovers, so I decided to mix it with a little Attack on Titan, because why not? An so, my new Fanfic is born, hope you'll like it, so without further ado, ****_Seid ihd das essen, Nein wir sind die Jaeger!_**

**_(Oh, btw, knowledge of SNK is strongly suggested, and knowledge of SAO is required as of episodes 13-14.)_**

* * *

"Huh? What's that, Kirito?" asked Asuna. She held the hand of her lover, Kirito. Heathcliff, the leader of their party, was as curious as them.

"I don't know. I have never seen anything like this. Trust me, for me to say that..." he said.

"Well, it may just be what we were looking for. Commander, weren't we searching for an anomaly in all maps of floor 55? Shouldn't something you've never seen before qualify?" asked Kirito.

"Indeed. I suggest keeping weapons ready." answered Heathcliff. Then, they advanced towards the crevice in the face of the mountain they were scaling. Upon closer inspection, it looked like it held a portal of some sort. They waited. Nothing happened.

"Hey," started Kirito. "Can you remind me why we're in this again?"

"I told you, I'm the second in command in the guild." she answered. "I have to go. And besides, you're my husband, so I wanted you to come too."

"I didn't mean it like that. I mean, we were having so much fun and... well, I wanted some time off after what happened with Yui."

Asuna froze, almost literally. Mere days before, the closest thing they had to a daughter, Yui, had been turned into an item, which Asuna always wore around her neck.

"Yeah," she anwered. "I would have liked to have time to... come to terms with things. But Heathcliff asked for me by name, so I couldn't refuse."

Kirito wasn't the jealous type, but still he couldn't get himself to trust Heathcliff. He had done some unnaturally fast moves that one time when they had a duel, and besides, for a player to _never_ get his health to the yellow zone, that just couldn't be, especially because it always stopped dropping _just_ before getting to it. There was a mystery to be solved here, alright.

Suddenly, a rumble in the cave snapped them all back to reality, or at least, as close as this video game could get to it. A large creature stepped out of the portal. It looked like a huge, naked man, with no genitalia. He was crazy ripped, and had a mouth that looked like it had three sets of teeth combined into one. It was a simplistic, yet terrifying design for a boss.

No words were needed. Heathcliff, the player with the highest defense of the three, went forward to check for attack patterns. Kirito and Asuna kept their eyes peeled for clues on how to defeat it. Heathcliff saw an incoming punch from the creature, and blocked it with his shield. Although it had been an extremely strong attack, Heathcliff didn't even flinch. A barrage of punches followed. When that failed, the creature started to kick at him. The shield parried all attacks, so it seemed like Heathcliff was completely safe.

You know, _seemed_ is quite a dangerous word, because the creature then did something that no enemy, NPC or even boss should be able to do. With his humongous hands, he grabbed Heathcliff's shield, and wrestled it from him. Of course, Heathcliff's strength stat was maxed out, but the giant managed to do it anyway. Without hesitation, the creature ate it. Heathcliff was defenseless now.

"Asuna! Kirito! Did you find out enough about the boss?" he asked.

"You got it, Commander!" answered Kirito. Having memorized the giant's attack patterns, Kirito and Asuna headed towards him. They, together with Heathcliff, started attacking so fast, that the creature almost didn't have time to respond.

Again, _almost_ is a word that is more dangerous than it would seem. When Heathcliff did a paricularly high jump, the boss jumped and intercepted him. With his mouth. It happened so fast, that Heathcliff wasn't even chewed. What was worse, in the second of shock that Kirito and Asuna had, they realized that all the cuts they had made on the beast, which looked like they were made of transparent red wireframe, were closing. Kirito also saw that the giant's health was getting replenished. Within ten seconds, it had recovered half of all they had hurt him.

Asuna, in turn, noticed something completely different. "Kirito, fall back, I think I discovered something!"

Without question, he did. There was something weird about this battle.

"What is it, Asuna?" he asked when they were out of the giant's sight.

"I know how stupid this will sound, but I think that's a player."

"Say what? I mean, yeah, it would be cool for someone to be able to turn into a boss, but it just isn't possible."

"Why not? I mean, your dual wielding is a skill only you have,"

"Yeah, but I can carry swords in both hands, big deal, not turn into a freaking boss. Why would you think it's a skill, anyway?"

"Look at his back, near the nape of the neck."

He did. Fortunately, the giant had turned around. There was a small, green cursor in on top of it's neck.

"You're right." he said. Hmm, he thought, if it's green, then it means... "Asuna, we gotta attack now. His cursor is green. He hasn't killed Heathcliff."

"Got it, I'll get the front, and you get the actual player" Kirito's wife said. They did as they said they would. Asuna was great at getting it's attention, so the giant didn't notice when Kirito jumped to his back. Using his dual blades, he started to cut, intending to slice through the player. In the last second, he decided against killing him, instead slicing around where he thought the player was, based on the cursor. It was a gamble, but it worked. Soon, the body disappeared, not like when a player died or as when an object's durability was depleted. No, it looked like the whole giant was one big wound of transparent red wireframe. Within seconds, all that remained was a guy, not much older than Kirito. He looked at Kirito, and collapsed, but not before muttering something to him.

"Thank you." he had said.

* * *

"To be truthful, I am baffled that you two want to help this young man, after he tried to kill us, and after he ate me." said Heathcliff.

"I told you, I think he had no control over that. Maybe the boss possessed him or something, or else he wouldn't have thanked me when we pulled him out." said Kirito.

"Yeah," started Asuna, "besides, have you seen his equipment? He had many swords, but their durability was awful. Nothing higher than level 20 equipment, and no armor. The only thing I can't figure out is this item called, 3D maneuver gear, which is apparently level ?. We need to keep him, if only for questioning.

Heathcliff thought for a second. "Alright, but if he does anything, he's your responsibility, and you share whatever punishment he gets. The anomaly in the map is gone, so consider yourselves dismissed, and free to return to your vacation."

* * *

Kirito and Asuna's home had two beds, so they decided to sleep inside one, and leave the other to the stranger.

"You think this is a good idea?" asked Asuna.

"Don't worry. Our house is an immortal object, so even if something happens, it won't be in any danger." answered Kirito.

"I didn't mean that, dummy! I mean, what if something happened to us while we were sleeping?"

"Oh, that? Don't worry, we'll take shifts looking out. I get the first shift, so I'll wake you up in a few hours."

Asuna still looked a bit uncomfortable.

"Now what?" asked Kirito.

"Hold me until I fall asleep?" she asked.

"No problem." he answered.

* * *

Asuna woke up feeling great. She had a feeling that she sometimes had when she woke up in the mornings that told her the day was gonna be great. The sun shined beautifully, warming her cheeks-

"Wait, _sun_?" thought Asuna.

"Kirito!" she quickly said, It was the first time she moved in the day, so she greatly startled the man who had been sitting on the bed next to her.

"Hey, good morning to you too." said Kirito, now on the floor.

"You didn't wake me up!" she accused.

"Well, I wanted to, but you looked so peaceful..." answered her beloved.

"But still..." she started, but she knew that the argument was finished.

"Anyhow, our bossling friend looks like he's waking up. Wanna be the first to introduce yourself to him? I need to take a nap."

She started to anwer, but Kirito fell asleep on the bed before she could even proceess what she said.

Five minutes later, the brown-haired guest in the house woke up. At first he seemed disoriented, but as he looked around the room, his eyes locked with a beautiful girl's.

"Good morning! You sleep well?" she said with a brilliant smile.

"Gah!" he screamed. "Who are you?"

"My name is Asuna and the sleepyhead over there is called Kirito! What's your name?"

The brown-haired guy internally debated within himself. After a few seconds, he said, "Eren Jaeger."

"Eren Jaeger?" asked Asuna. "It's not often that I meet a person with two words for a screen name."

"Screen name? What is that? Nevermind, are we still inside Wall Rose?"

"Wall Rose? I've never heard of it, is it in floor 55? That's where we found you."

"What? How can you not know what Wall Rose is? It is fifty meters tall, and all humanity lives inside it!"

"_Weirdo_" thought Asuna.

"You're telling me... that I'm not... Oh god, the titans! They will attack this place! Ready as many horses as you need, I am part of the survey corps!"

"Okay," said Asuna. "I don't know what you're talking about. Is "Suvey Corps" your guild?"

"Stupid civilian, if we don't move, we'll die!"

"Now who are you calling a stupid civilian? I will have you know that I am the second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath! And I will not have you calling me stupid in my house!"

Eren took a second to think. If the woman owned the home, and wasn't preoccupied about titans, then they had to still be within at least Wall Rose. So, he had just made a pontentially powerful, albeit ignorant enemy for nothing. Fortunately, Eren had a particular skill for getting people to stop wanting his ass to be handed to him on a platter, which he used.

"I am sorry for the trouble I caused. I need transport, preferably a horse, to Wall Rose. I am a friend of Mikasa Ackerman, she showed up in the papers the last time the titans attacked."

"Don't worry about the trouble, but as for your request, don't have neither the horse nor any knowledge of the place you're looking for. Look, I need to check a few things, can you open your menu?"

"What do you mean by menu?"

* * *

Two hours later, Asuna managed to get Eren to understand a few things, essentially that, A) He was in no immediate danger, B) He was not in whatever place he was from, and C) how to open his menu. Of course, the second he did that, Eren had about a million more questions, so in the end Asuna had to tell him from scratch what Sword Art Online was. Asuna was extremely surprised both by how little he knew and by the fact that he was a level 1. There was no way anybody could have stayed a level one this far into the game, so how had he done it?

Three of his skills also bothered her. One of them stung a little, "Dual Wield". She had thought her husband Kirito was the only one with it. It made him special, but oh well, he would always be special to her, unique skill or nor.

The other two she had never seen before. The first was "3D Maneuver", which was pretty vague. The description read, "_Can use the item 3D Maneuver gear_". Perhaps the item he had was legendary or something? And the last one troubled her deeply. The icon resembled the face of the boss he had been in. It was called "Titan Shift", and it was supposed to let him "_Turn into a titan when not in full health_." Did that mean that he really was the boss who had attacked them?

Before she could ask anything else, Kirito sprang up from his bed, taking his blade with him.

"Who's there?" he asked, seemingly into nowhere. Apparently, he had sensed an enemy nearby. Even in his sleep, he was always alert for Asuna's sake.

"Don't worry, it's me." said Heathcliff, standing at the door. "I found out something rather strange. I need you two to come with me, and take the little bossling with you. As hard as this may be to say, I think I may have found a mayor glitch in the game."

* * *

**So, that was chapter one! I'm sorry if it was a bit slow, but don't worry, it will pick up better speeds as the story progresses. And remember, while I love all my readers, I love my reviewers more. So tell me, should I continue this story? What do you think of it? **

**Anyhow, see you soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everybody! Chapter 2 is up! I thank every on of my (so far 30-40) viewers, it really means a lot! And it WILL get better, for those who stick around! So, without much to else to say, (other than the fact that I'm going later today to the Zelda Symphony!) I am left with nothing other than ****_Seid ihr das essen, Nein wir sind der Jäeger!_**

* * *

"Okay, we're here." said Kirito. "Now, did you need us here?"

"Simple." said Heathcliff. "I understand that your level is 97, isn't it, Kirito?"

"Yes. Why is that important?"

"Because, with that level, I can promote you. And so I will. I herby promote you to third in Command under Asuna, a new position in our guild."

"Wait, what does that mean?" asked Kirito, confused.

"It means that you outrank everybody in the guild, _except_ for Asuna and me."

"Good," said Asuna, who had managed to stay quiet the whole time. "I'd hate it if I couldn't boss you around."

"So what is the problem, sir?" asked Eren, understanding that he was talking to a superior officer, even if it wasn't his own.

"Ah, yes." started Heathcliff. "The portal you came from... It was not the only one. We've been finding others, one every few floors. Bosses that look like naked humans are coming out of them. They yield tremendous XP, but they are exceedingly hard to kill. They regenerate from wounds within seconds, and even our highest-leveled players can't cut them fast enough to make a difference. Some have been killed, but it is unknown how this can be achieved. Besides, even a single bite from one could potentially one-hit KO a player, and if a player is swallowed, the rate at which HP is depleted is blindingly fast. More often than not, a succesful biting attack means death."

Kirito looked slightly troubled. "If you're telling us this, then it means that..."

"Right. You and Asuna are in charge of two tasks, the first being to investigate and, if possible, to stop the flow of bosses from as many floors as you can without dying."

"Wait, just the two of us? What about all the other high-level players?" asked Kirito.

"Every player that could be of use to you is occupied with previous engagements. For the matter, so am I, although that might change in the next few days. Even so, I understand that this is a difficult task, and so I decided to give you an extra help. Eren Jaeger, would you like to be a Knight of the Blood Order?"

"Wait, what? Why? He's only a level one, it will kill him before he knows it!"

"Which bring me to my second assignment. Young Eren, may I see your menu?"

Eren opened his menu, which Asuna had taught him to do, and showed it to Heithcliff.

"As I thought. This man has not one but three unique abilities, which is entirely unheard of. Your second assignment is to help him level up. I suggest taking him to high-level places whilst letting him have some of the XP, loot, and items you get. Will that be a problem?"

Kirito started to answer, but Asuna spoke first. "No, sir, it will not be a problem. We will fight bravely in order to achieve this mission, granted by the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"That's what I wanted to hear." said Hethecliff. "I have marked the positions of the found spawning grounds of the bosses. Dismissed!"

And so, Kirito, Asuna, and Eren left the room.

"Hey, Eren," said Kirito. "Do you mind if I talk to Asuna for a bit? You know, alone?"

Eren looked at him for a second. "Okay, but I need to speak with the two of you, later. I know what the creatures,the ones you call bosses, are."

Eren walked a considerable distance ahead, and waited for them,

"Why did you do that?" asked Kirito.

"Do what?" asked Asuna,

"Promise to train him. To take care of him."

"Because, there is something that makes me curious about him."

"Wait... you're not saying..."

"Relax, no. I mean, I didn't have time to tell this to you before, but he has some very special skills. For one, he can use dual wielding."

"_Dual Wielding_? But that's _my_ ability!"

"I know, but the other two abilities still bug me. I mean, he is wasting an entire ability spot in being able to use his '3D maneuver gear' item. And, he has an ability called Titan Shifter. I don't know what it is that attacked us yesterday, but 'Titan' looked like a pretty appropriate name, don't you think?"

"Hmm... so you're saying that you don't trust the man. Keep your friends closer, and your enemies closer. But, won't he get more powerful by being with us?"

"If he can really turn into a boss that was able to eat Heathcliff, I'm sure he can level up pretty quickly on his own, the difference is if we're there we can learn his patterns, how he works, and if the need arises, to take him down. We wouldn't want him killing our friends, would we?"

"No, you're right. We'll keep him under constant watch, though. Even at night."

"You got it, but if you don't wake me up next time, I'll be pissed."

"Hey, no fair! How am I supposed to wake you up when you look so peaceful when you sleep? It's like asking me to kick a puppy."

Asuna smiled genuinely, but she still had to win the argument. "I'm sorry, but you _have_ to keep your energy for the day. You wouldn't want to be all sleepy around me, would you? How could I enjoy myself with you if you couldn't even stand?"

Kirito stopped to think for a second. "Well, I guess I can't argue there. I'll have to wake you up next time."

"Good. Now, Eren is waiting for us, it would be rude to leave him there forever."

The rest of trip to the nearest town was spent trying to explain to Eren every detail about SOA, until at last he more or less got the game. Of course, they had to take the extra-long way, or else there wouldn't have been time for that.

"So," said Eren. "You're saying that my Titan-Shifting is something normal here?"

"Not exactly," answered Asuna. "I mean, yeah, people here have abilities, but I think yours are unique. You know..." Asuna stopped for a second. The wind came to a halt. Somewhere, in the distance, a werewolf howled. "You could... show us."

"Sorry, can you give us a second, Eren?" quickly said Kirito, pulling Asuna over. "What are you doing? Didn't you see how dangerous that thing was?"

"Yeah. That's exactly why I brought us here." she answered. Kirito looked around.

"The Stone Tortoises' lair?"

"Exactly. They have extremely high defense, so if he runs berserk they can keep him busy. Also, their attack is low, so he could probably survive an attack or two, even as a level one."

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing. You know how I feel about letting party members die."

"Yeah, yeah, so are we gonna test him or not?"

"Yes. We getter get back to him, or else he'll think we have a little something going on here!"

"Oh, stop it, you." Asuna said as she punched him playfully, and they returned to Eren. He was biting at his hand.

"Euff au buh buhsek, cat mu ouff." said Eren.

"What was that?" asked Kirito. Eren removed his hand from his mouth.

"If I go berserk, cut me out. You know, like you did before."

"Got it." said Kirito and Asuna simultaneously.

Then, Eren bit his hand. Kirito saw his HP deplete a sliver, no more than 1%, but when he did, he was struck by a lightning, even though the sky was clear. Then, the light from the lightning stopped. When it did, instead of there being a player, a boss stood, letting out a bellowing roar.

"Does that count as berserk?" asked Kirito.

"I don't think so. Anyway, I'll try to talk to-"

Before Asuna could finish that sentence, Kirito used all of hos hard-earned speed points in beating her to it. He approached Eren with blinding speed.

"Hey, Eren, are you still there?" he asked.

The Eren-boss nodded, and walked forward. A Stone Tortoise, startled, bit one of his legs off. Of course, in the next minute, Eren had gotten his foot back, which he used to smash the tortoise's shell, an action that killed it. Kirito heard the "level-up" sound, and counted how many times it went.

"Thirteen." said Asuna, who had also counted the chimes. "He's a level thirteen."

"It doesn't surprise me," said Kirito. "Those things are level 40. It was not until I was at least level 35 that I could beat one, and that is considering I'm a beater. Whoever this guy is, he's got one cool ability."

Eren continued kicking at his enemies, until at last he grew tired. By that time, he was a level 31. To get out, his giant form just bowed down, and he came out of the neck. He looked tired, so Kirito threw him a stamina crystal, and showed him how to use it.

"Wait, why do you have so many stamina crystals?" asked Asuna.

"How else am I supposed to stay awake when you sleep?" he answered. Of course. He still planned on doing that. Asuna shot him a dirty look.

"Hey, I was still planning on waking you up. Only, later rather than sooner."

"Well, that's better, I guess. Hey Eren, how are you feeling up there?"

"Great! This crystal helped me a lot! Now, what do we do?"

"Good question. You could show us your other-" started Asuna, bit a tremor interrupted her. The Stone Tortoises' lair was a canyon area, much like the one in which Kirito had almost died a few days before, and also the one where he first kissed Asuna. The reason this is important is because one of the stone walls on the side started to break. And inside, there was a portal, much like the one Eren had come out of.

"Oh sh- Asuna, is that what I think it is?" asked Kirito. As if answering his question, a huge figure sprang from the portal. It was smaller than Eren's boss form, but still a formidable seven meters. Besides, it was fat in comparison to Eren's ripped transformation. Still, it was a boss, alright. The word "Titan" flashed in front of it, even though it only had one life meter. "_I guess one's all you need when you can regenerate_." thought Kirito.

"Okay, Eren, I think now would be a good time to transform again." said Asuna. Eren bit his hand again, but nothing happened.

"I can't." he said. "I think it needs to recharge."

"What? Then how are we supposed to kill it?" asked Kirito.

Eren smiled. "Just watch. You wanted to see my 3D maneuver gear, right? Good, because I'm gonna kill _all_ the titans!"

With that, and utterly surprising Asuna and Kirito, the level 31 player went on to fight a boss that had to be at least level 60. As anyone who has played an RPG can tell you, being a certain level doesn't mean you will have an easy time against a boss of the same level. In fact, most of the time, players have to level up way beyond the boss's level in order to challenge it on their own. So, in the eyes of Kirito and Asuna, this was suicide, especially since all of his equipment was too weak to attack nearly anything.

You can also imagine their surprise when Eren, while running, pulled out his menu, and from there he equipped an item. Asuna recognized it. It was the level ? 3D Maneuver gear he had been wearing yesterday. Out of it, he pulled two blades, one in each hand, to Kirito's dismay.

Then, he did something amazing. From around his belt's height came two cables, which attached themselves to the rock walls of the canyon. With the help of some gas from a device behind him, he propelled himself until he was a few meters on top of the Titan. Of course, the humongous beast attempted to grab at him, but Eren shot one of his cables to the floor behind the creature, saving himself by the skin of his teeth. While the Titan figured out why his prey had escaped, Eren shot himself up its back, and pulled himself towards the nape of its neck. The second he was near enough, he used both swords to slash a triangular piece of meat from the giant's neck. Instantly, the Titan fell down, and a few seconds later, the titan vanished. It was the same animation as when a player died, except for the addition of a lot of white smoke.

"And that's how you kill a titan." said Eren, as the level up chime sounded five times. He was a level 36 now.

"How did you do that?" asked Kirito. "Our best players are struggling against those, and you just killed one like it was nothing."

"Well, I know the titans better than anybody, they..." Eren made an angry face, and stopped talking.

"Anyway," said Asuna. "We need to get you some better equipment. You must have gotten _some loot_ for defeating _that_!"

Eren wasn't too sure. He had killed plenty of titans before, and so far not one had left anything behind. So, it was a complete surprise when he checked his inventory, and found the following:

2 Gas Canister (Replacement)  
2 Titan Crystal  
1 Titan Bone  
1 Vapor Stone

He checked the description for each. The gas canisters were for his 3D gear, and all the others were crafting materials. Asuna peeked behind him.

"Great, That saves us the pain of getting him crafting materials." she said.

"He will still need some for armor, though." said Kirito.

"Yeah, but It will have to be _very_ light, for him to move like he did."

"Details, details. For now, some weaponry will be enough, right Eren?"

"Y-yeah." he said. He was still thinking about his equipment, How was it possible for the titan to have 3D maneuver gear parts inside it? The only way he could think was... oh no. But then again, some of the things, like the Vapor Stone, the titan couldn't have eaten. Maybe it was the game's interference somehow?

"Well then," said Asuna. "I got just the blacksmith for this job. Get some teleport crystals out. We're paying Lizbeth a visit!"

* * *

**So, there you have your action! Some exciting 3D maneuvers, and the plot starting to show tiny bits of itself. Also, I want to apologize if I can't update in the next three days, because I have exams tuesday through thursday, and for the matter again next monday and tuesday. Anyhow, see you as soon as I can! **

**P.S. Don't forget to review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! This is vbarreiro, also known as V-Bro 419! (*cheers*)**

**Alright, so I decided to write between stude sessions, o I got a chapter done pretty quickly, but tomorrow I have to study physocs, so I don't think I'll have time to write. **

**Also, I've been re-watching the series (up to episode 14. To me, that's what SAO is supposed to be about, but the rest is stil, good.) I've been thinking, do you guys think it's a good idea to start reading the light novels?**

**Well, anyhow, **

**(I wanna always be with you, ****I wanna hold you tight right now**

**I swear I will wipe your tears, ****I'll give you everything I have)**

**(Yeah, I'm gonna take pieces from the intros in my author's rant. Neither the SNK nor the SOA are mine. Please don't sue me.)**

* * *

"Huh? Asuna? Oh God, it _is _you! Where have you been?" asked Lizbeth. She was a blacksmith, and a darned good one, but right now she had been sleeping on the job.

"Great to see you too!" said Asuna. "I've been... well, you remember Kirito, don't you?"

Asuna raised her hand to reveal a silver ring. She took Kirito's hand in her's, and showed it off. Never did she realice that, some time before, Lizbeth had been in love with Kirito. She never knew that Lizbeth had forfeited her own happiness in favor of her best friend's. And she definitevely didn't realize the massive amount of pain she had just caused poor Lizbeth. No, to her it was an innocent act of telling a friend, "check this out, I finally got what I wanted", and she treated it as such to the best of her ability.

"Oh, good! And you even got married! I mean, I'm so happy for you, I told you he was a keeper!"

Asuna could tell that something was bothering her friend, but she didn't ask. There were some more pressing issues.

"So," she said. "there is something we would like you to look into. We found these strange materials, but have no idea what to do with them. They're supposed to be crafting items, so we thought you might have a look."

Eren pulled out his menu and got the items out, save for the gas canisters. He knew what _those_ were.

"Hmm..." pondered Lizbeth. "These are upgrade items, but I've never seen what they're supposed to upgrade. It's a '3D Maneuver Gear Blade?'. Very curious... by any chance, does one of you know what it means?"

Asuna and Kirito looked at each other, and Eren removed the two large boxes that he carried as part of his 3D maneuver gear. Without removing them from it, he selected two of the metallic protrusions in it and transerred them to Liz's inventory. She looked at the items in her screen, and nodded. "This should do."

Without even looking, she transferred the two blades into different furnances, and divided the items between them: both swords got a Titan Cristal, but one got the Titan Bone, and the other got the Vapor Stone.

"Alright, all set! This might take a while, thoug, so why don't you guys go out and have a drink while I finish?" asked Liz.

* * *

"So," started Kirto. "how were you able to defeat Titan?"

"Why do you call it as if 'titan' was it's name?" Eren asked back.

"Isn't it?"

"No. Titans are mindless beasts. A titan is no more special than the hundred thousand others that exist."

"Okay, but that aside, how do you beat one?"

Eren hesitated. Unbeknownst to all but him, he was deciding whether the people near him were friends or foes. If this wasn't Wall Rose, then the titans being here could help humanity, or at least his portion of it. At last, he decided that teaching people how to kill titans wasn't a bad idea, since titans were better off there anyway.

"Ten centimeters wide times one meter tall."

"What is that?" asked Asuna.

"In the nape of the neck. Every titan has a weak spot of that size in there"

"Nape of the neck... so you're saying that anybody can just slash a titan there, and they just die?"

"No." said Eren. "You probably noticed, that they heal too fast. You can't just slice it once. you have to slice it twice simultaneously. Essentially, if you can remove a piece of its weak spot, you kill it."

"And what about bombs?" asked Asuna. "Can't we just, like, destroy it?"

"No. At least, not if you don't hit the weak spot. I've seen titans regrow themselves from the chest down."

"Damn. That means that..." started Kirito.

"...you're the only one who can kill them on his own." finished Asuna.

"Well, that's not entirely true. Eren here can do the same, can't he?"

"Yeah I guess the commander knew what he was doing when he sent us here with him."

"Yeah," said Kirito. "Makes you wonder..."

Before Kirito could finish that thought, Lizbeth screamed. Instantly, Asuna and Kirito rushed to her, with Eren closely behind. Fortunately, she was alright. In front of her stood two blades.

"I-I-" stuttered Lizbeth, "I'm sorry! I must be the worst blacksmith ever! I haven't even heard of this happening to anyone else! And with the rare materials you had given me! I'm sorry!"

All three guests went to look at the swords. One of them looked like a diamond blade, with a smaller blade made of bone visible inside. The other also looked kind of like it was made of a crystalline material, but this one was foggy, and wasn't see-through.

"They don't have hilts." said Kirito, coincidentally mirroring Asuna's thoughts. Liz nodded gravely. Instead of there being hilts, a metallic shape with holes prortuded from the bottom of the blades.

"That isn't a problem." said Eren. Then, he picked up the swords he already had, the ones made of iron, and clicked them out of the hilt, each making a loud _Clang_ as it hit the floor. Then, he picked up the blades Liz had worked so hard on, and put them in on the place of the others he had used before. The new blades fit in perfectly. "They were this exact shape when I gave them to you. The difference is in the material. Thank you for making such a great work out of them."

Upon hearing this, Liz smiled widely, and threw her arms around Eren. "You mean I didn't screw up? Thank you thank you thank you!"

"And what are you thanking him for?" asked Asuna, "_We're_ the ones who should be thanking _you_!"

Suddenly embarrassed, Liz pulled back fro Eren, and scrathced the back of her head. "Well, I guess it is a good piece of equipment! Now, wanna check for abilities?"

Suddenly, every person in the room looked at Eren.

"Fine, just wait a second." he said, Then, he put both blades in his inventory, and looked at them from there. Their descriptions were like this:

_Bone Titan Blade:  
A blade for the 3D Maneuver Gear, made from the crystal and bone of a titan. Its weigh can be controlled by the user through verbal commands or, if the player is skilled enough, through thought._

_Vapor Titan Blade:  
A blade for the 3D Maneuver Gear, made from the crystal of a titan and a stone of vapor. Can shoot very large amounts of steam in any (or all) directions. This is controlled by the user through verbal commands or, if the player is skilled enough, through thought._

"Wow," said Kirito, "There are some fine swords. And durable, too! Asuna, if we kill some titans, do you think we can get similar upgrades?"

"Perhaps," answered Liz, without waiting for Asuna to say anything. "but you would have to kill one yourself. There is no way of knowing if Eren got things specific for his current gear out of luck, or if they are always specific to the player."

"Well then, we'll have to kill us some titans." said Kirito. The three said goodbye to Liz, Asuna checked the map, and then they all used teleport crystals to warp to a town that was relatively close to a titan's spawn point on floor 20. Kirito winced when he saw the location. The portal was supposed to be in Sunshine Forest, a dungeon where he had trained with his first guild, the Moonlit Black Cats. SAO had killed them all, save for himself. He didn't complain, but Asuna knew the story. The moment she pieced together that it was one of the absolute worst places she could have chosen, she immediately tried to change her decision.

"Don't worry, Asuna." he said. "I'll be okay." said Kirito reassuringly.

"O-okay." said Asuna.

And so, the party of three quietly walked to the place they knew the portal would be. They didn't walk too fast, because there was seemingly no hurry.

Now, remember, what have I told you about words like seemingly? When the party least expected it, a scream tore through the air. In seconds, Asuna and Kirito were at the scene, but this time, Eren used his 3D gear with the forest's trees and got there first. When he got there, he saw a sight that he had sworn to destroy: titans killing people. There was a party of six or seven on the floor, desperately attacking at the beasts. One of the titans grabbed a swordsman by the cape, leaving him helpless to do anything but to die. Of course, Eren wasn't about to allow this. He rushed and cut through the titan's hand. The player was now free, and Eren started to go around the titan. Then, Eren decided to try something new.

"200 hundred grams!" he scremed, When he did this, his blade seemed to glow a bright orange. His hand moved unnaturally fast, cutting into a titan's weak spot, but not getting very deep. It was then that the titan discovered a little man on his back. The titan simply grabbed at his neck, and curled his giant fingers around Eren, leaving his bone sword dangling from the belt and the other one trapped along with him. It was just Eren's luck, too, that both of his hands were trapped. Then, he got another idea.

"Pressure vapor: outwards!" and when he said this, a blast of vapor tore the titan's hand, without harming Eren.

"_But why didn't my other blade work?_" Eren asked his inner self.

"Hey, Eren," said Kirito, who had just gotten there. "you know, it's cool that you can make your blade lighter, but if you do it in the air you will get unbalanced, and if make it too light it will lose all of its strength. You know, force equals mass times acceleration."

Eren stared at him confused at his words and surprised at the fact that Kirito had been observant enough to notice.

"Look," said Kirito. "I think that the coolest way you can use this is if you just make it lighter to get momentum, and heavier to strike."

Eren thanked him, and returned to the battlefield. Kirito did the same, and started killing titans with a mix of speed and dual wielding. Eren decided to try using Kirito's method. he approached a titan from behind.

"10 grams! Half a ton!" screamed Eren. The slash was so strong, that it literally split part of the titan, weak-spot included, in half. But then, Eren lost his grip on the sword, now too heavy for him to handle. There was a cable that connected his belt to the sword, and Eren was lucky that it was strong enough not to break with a half ton of metal. Of course, this didn't mean that the sword was left simply dangling. It brought Eren down with it, costing him a good 1/5 of his HP.

"Damn. Five kilograms." he said. Asuna, who was unable to help with anything else because she only had a single blade, came to his aid. She replenished his health, and he went back to the battle. After a while, the battle ended, and the portal that had been seen in one of the trees slowly disappeared.

"Hey," said one of the players they had saved. "Thanks for saving us. We wouldn't have lived if it weren't for you. Besides, we all leveled up a few times just now, so we also owe you that."

"Don't worry about it," said Kirito, but he did notice that the lead player was, accounting for gained levels, a Lv65. Looking at Eren, he was now a 51. Just how strong were these things, anyway?

Eren, in turn, was checking his inventory. He found the following:

8 Titan Crystal  
1 Titan's Eye  
2 Vapor Stones.  
1 Titan's Tooth  
9 Titan's Blood  
1 Scarf of Mik-

Wait, _What_?

He read the last item's name. He read it again. It couldn't be. It was impossible. No. No. He pressed it to see the description.

_Scarf of Mikasa  
A red scarf belonging to the Survey Corps hero, Mikasa Ackerman. Apparently, it was given to her by someone very dear to her._

How. How had this happened. He wanted answers. He wanted to be able to interrogate the dead titans. He wanted to kill.

It is known that Eren can't become a titan unless he has a goal for doing so. And boy did he have one right now. He had been injured in the battle, so it was not a problem for him to transform into a gigantic creature, a titan.

The roar, which happened in floor 20, was heard as far as floors 18 through 22.

* * *

**And there you have it! A cliffhanger, because yeah I'm running out of hours in the day and I still have to study, so please be understanding.**

**Oh, and I wanted to thank my great awesome reviewers!**

**See you guys soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everybody! I'm sorry that I have not been posting lately, but those finals really suck. Well, anyhow, I am now writing form Guadalajara, where I first started writing fanfiction. Well, without further ado, ****_I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I_**** have.**

* * *

"ROAAAR!"

Kirito, Asuna, and every other person in the forest looked at Eren. This was a good thing, because no one was hit entirely by surprise by his attack. He punched wildly, not at any target in specific but at everything and everyone.

"Does this count as berserk?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah, let's go!" answered his wife.

They both used their extremely high dexterity points in order to reach it fast. The plan was to cut him down as quickly as possible. By the way, just so you know, this was easier said than done. Eren was at least fifteen meters tall. But even so, they tried. Without any hesitation, Kirito got himself on top of Eren first. Of course, Kirito was of an absurdly high legel, and Eren was unable to catch him, so Eren started running. Then, with Kirito hot in pursuit, grabbed a tree with his right hand. He used his own momentum to keep him going in a circle. By the time he returned to the beginning, Kirito was trying his hardest to stop. Eren managed to catch him during this time.

While Eren was distracted, Asuna approached him from behind, but Eren managed to cover his weak spot with his opened hand. This had two effects. First, Asuna's blade got itself stuck inside of Eren's rapidly healing hand. Second, Eren closed his humongous hand around Asuna. Some of the other players, thankful to Asuna and Kirito, tried to help, but Eren just kicked them off, turning most of their hp's to the red zone, but killing none.

Eren took both of the people in his hands, and dropped them in his mouth. The short second in which they fell was enough for them to activate sword skills, but they were inside Eren's moth before they could do anything. As the teeth clenched behind them, Kirito grabbed Asuna's hand. He took his black blade, Elucidor, and stabbed it in Eren tounge. Of course, the fifteen meter titan was not happy with this, so he started shaking his head, biting randomly in an attempt to crush the two people inside his mouth. As Kirito and Asuna both slid right under his teeth, Kirito looked at Asuna's eyes. There was no time to move or even roll out of the way.

"I love-" started Kirito, but he never got the chance to finish.

This is because he suddenly started falling. At first he didn't understand, but when he noticed that he was falling through shining red wireframe, he had a realization. Eren had been cut off from his titan form. But by whom? Eren could not possibly have been defeated by one of the other players, their level was too low. But then who had done it?

As they fell, Kirito did his best to right himself and catch Asuna in the air. he then realized that he was not the only one to do this. Another figure snatched Eren fro the air, and fell smoothly with him in arms. Kirito was about to approach their savior, but then Kirito noticed something. The uniform was exactly the same as Eren's. Noticing this too, Asuna jumped from Kirito's arms and readied herself for battle. This, however, did not interest the stranger.

"Idiot Levi. I told him I knew that roar." the figure, apparently a female, said.

Eren, barely conscious, looked at the stranger. His eyes widened.

"I'm... sorry..." Eren said. It sounded like it was meant for everyone, but his eyes were fixated on her. With the last of his strength, Eren opened his menu. He took out an item, a red muffler. Right before he passed out, he managed to put the muffler around the woman's neck.

After waiting a respectful amount of time, Asuna decided to approach. She waited for the stranger to turn around. When she did, Asuna noted that she was crying, If they were tears of sorrow, relief, joy, or a mixture of all three, Asuna could not tell. Slightly shocked by this, Asuna was unable to find words. Luckily, Kirito was right behind her.

"Thank you for saving our hides." he said. Although his words were carefree, his voice was dead serious,

The stranger took a minute to collect herself. She cried a little more, then wiped the tears from her face. A few seconds later she spoke. It was a soft voice, one that looked like it was reserved for the most emotional of moments.

"I'm sorry, my... friend... he almost ate you." she said. By the way she isolated the word "friend", Asuna could tell that there were some deep feelings in there.

"Listen," started Kirito. "I will not say it is was not a bother. I almost died, and so did my wife. But still, even though you just saved our lives, and I am thankful for it, something still bothers me. How did you know his weak spot? And just how do you know Eren?"

The stranger let out a small cry when he heard the young man's name. She was clearly shocked.

"I'm sorry. My name is Mikasa Ackerman. For the longest time, this man has been like a brother to me." Asuna and Kirito looked at each other. They both knew that, under different conditions, they would have teased her for her very obvious feelings for him. But these were not different conditions, so they let her finish. "I apologize for any inconvenience he caused, because it is partially my fault he is here."

Kirito thought for a second, and Asuna spoke. "I have heard your name before. Eren mentioned you were his friend. Come, we have a lot to talk about."

Kirito looked at Asuna, seemingly reading her mind, and nodded. "Yeah, let's take them home. It's not like they can destroy it or anything."

And so, they exited the dungeon. Because teleport crystals were expensive, they decided to go on foot. Nobody said a word, save for coordinations when monsters were killed. Mikasa got some experience every battle, just for being in proximity with the other players. Strangely enough, her levels went up fairly quickly. By the time they got to town, she was already a level 23. Kirito remembered, this place was where Sachi had reached that level.

When they got to the teleport gate, they travelled to floor 22, and got home. Once there, Asuna started the questioning.

"Alright, so first things first. How are you in SAO?"

Mikasa gave Asuna a confused look. Asuna almost fainted at the possibility of having to explain _all_ of SAO to a person, again, but she did so anyway.

"Now, let me ask again, Mikasa. How are you here?" asked Asuna, tired of explaining

"A few days back, Eren diappeared. We did not know where he was, at least, until we found the pillar."

"The pillar?" asked Kirito.

"Yes. There was a blue pillar, made of light, and titans were pouring into it. Apparently humans were inside."

Asuna looked at Kirito. They were both thinking the same thing: that sounded an awful lot like a titan portal. Mikasa continued.

"Levi... our commander, he ordered us not to go near it, but then we heard a roar. I begged him to let me go, saying I knew the owner of that roar, but he wouldn't let me. Since we were in a forest, I was able to use my 3D gear, this device I have, to move towards it. Captain Levi was behind me, and he nearly cut my chord off, but he didn't. I suspect it was on purpose, but I really can't say. So I just kept going, and found Eren eating people. I knew he was probably out of control so, taking advantage of my being behind him, I dragged him out of that body."

Kirito thought deeply. "Hey, where you are from, it's a real world, right?" he asked.

Mikasa was surprised to hear this. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, is it a virtual reality, like this one, or is it an actual world, where you can work out and shower and use the restroom."

"Hmm... if those are the options, a real one."

"Then this makes no sense. How are real objects being transferred to the game?"

The room was quiet. Nobody could come up with a satisfactory answer. No, scratch that, an insatisfactory answer would have been some progress. Nobody even knew where to start looking. Finally, Asuna broke the silence.

"So, Mikasa, Eren has some pretty unique skills in the game. Maybe you have some too?"

Mikasa, a genius learner, already knew from Asuna's explanations what this implied and how to check it, so she opened her menu and viewed her skillset. Just like Eren, she had three unusual skills. Two of them were Dual Wielding and 3D Maneuver Gear, nothing new there, but the other one was a completely new one, Force. Asuna asked to see the description, and it was the following:

_Force:  
Instead of having to choose between dexterity and strength points at level up, the player is awarded both._

Asuna was shocked. "Ki-Ki-KIRITO COME OVER HERE!"

"I'm coming, what's the big-? Whoa, that's gotta be the coolest ability ever! Once you reach a high level, it will literally make you invincible!"

"Is that so?" asked Mikasa. "I'm glad." she said, looking tenderly at Eren's unconscious face.

* * *

"So, you are requesting to train the new girl, too?" asked Heathcliff. Asuna had decided that Heathcliff should know of the new stranger, so she and Kirito had gone to him, along with Eren and Mikasa. "Very well, then, you may train her, but on a few conditions. First, you have to keep her in a party at all times. Second, she must be a member of the Knights of the Blood Oath. Third, you must PM me any and all abilities that she develops on the two unique skills that she has. In other words, you will report the complete skill tree of 3D Maneuver Gear and Force. On that note, investigate why it it that she has Dual Blades. Oh, and all of these conditions apply to young Eren, too. Any questions?"

"None, sir." answered Asuna.

"Well, then, moving on. We are gathering a group for a raid to to the 75th floor boss..."

He proceeded to tell them of a boss room that had locked itself, and that had killed many high-levelled players, all of whom had teleport crystals.

"... this being the case, I fully expect you two to participate, and if you can, to make these two able to follow us. You are dismissed."

Kirito and Asuna left feeling uneasy. Kirito would try to stop Asuna from going, but he would need her support to train Eren and Mikasa. Luckily. he knew a pretty good training spot on level 75. Best of all, if Eren and Mikasa could hang from walls, the enemies there would not be able to reach them. And so, a day of harsh training ensued. The field was like Roman ruins, so it was just too easy for Eren and Mikasa to raise themselves and avoid danger, while Kirito and Asuna killed monsters blindly. After five grueling hours, Kirito and Asuna ran out of healing items. By now, Kirito had grown to level 98, Asuna to 96, Eren to 78 and Mikasa to 65. Now, they were all capable players, but they had gotten all of their experience through partying with Asuna and Kirito. Now, it was time to use their skills for real. The pary left for a lower floor, floor 40, to train. The monsters here were low-levelled enough that Eren and Mikas could beat them without much danger. The important thing was that they could actually use their sword skills.

"Now, see, Eren. This button over here is to check your skills. Let's see what you have unlocked, starting from the simple, and getting more complicated."

And so, Kirito showed him how to use sword skills, while Asuna taught Mikasa. By the time Eren knew what to do for all his non-unique skills, Mikasa was already killing monsters by the bucketload with them.

"So, that covers your basic skills, Eren. Now, how about we check out the fun ones?"

Kirito smiled, and picked a particularly packed place of monsters. He used the move, Starburst Stream, to unleash a 16-hit combo. With each slash of the sword, a monster fell.

"That, Eren, is one of your abilities. Look, open your menu, you should already have unlocked this one."

Eren did so, but couldn't find the skill. When Kirito came to see it, he was dumbstruck.

"No way, you've got a completely different moveset! I don't even know what half of these things even do!"

So, Eren was asked to show his abilities, along with Mikasa. They both showed an array of moves, that seemed to combine dual wielding and 3D Maneuver Gear. For example. Hurricane Spin allowed the user to spin in circles with his or her blades, and if the blades came in contact with a wall, the user would move along with it, like an horizontal wheel. Now, when combined with Comet Reach, a 3D Gear skill to take one to the opponent, or Meteor Fall, a skill to bring the opponent to one, it became a devastating 11-hit combo. And Wheel, a skill where the user spun like, well, like a wheel with swords, when combined with Linear Movement, a jump in a straight horizontal line, could clear crowded hallways in minutes. Kirito shuddered to think what these two could do in PvP.

As for extra-special abilities, Eren's Titan Shifting had gotten some improvements, like being able to produce titan crystal at will, armoring his body, and being able to produce steam. Later on, when Eren would max out this skill, he would gain the ability to make swords out of titan crystal, and use what few dual wielding skills did not require him to use his 3D Gear. And Mikasa, well, her "Force" skill did not have any actual ability, but the boost it had given her so far made her dexterity and strength points worthy of fighting Asuna or Kirito, but her HP was still as low as a level 65's should be.

As they continued to train, Kirito recieved a PM from Heathcliff. This was a little weird, but he read it anyway. It read:

_"I am sorry, Kirito. Protect the newcomers. Protect Asuna. Trust not a single Knight of the Blood Oath. And, if possible, don't die."_

Looking from the distance, a figure in white and red approached. And another. And another.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey people! Well, sorry for not updating. I tried several times, but Fanfiction would never let me save! In the end, I waited until I was at a place with decent internet before I did this. So, in other news: SAO PHANTOM BULLET ARC COMFIRMED AS AN ANIME! Since I last wrote, I've read all the SAO light novels, so I really recommend it. Also, Date a Live id getting same treatment, so we have that hype too! No news on SnK, but keep it strong, okay? Anywho, without any more news, let's get into ****_I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I have!_**

* * *

Note: for this chapter (and maybe from now on) I will use Kirito's PoV

_"I am sorry, Kirito. Protect the newcomers. Protect Asuna. Trust not a single Knight of the Blood Oath. And, if possible, don't die."_

Those were the words Heathcliff had left me with. But wasn't he a KoB member? Should I trust him? After all, he was a shady character even before that message.

Even so, there was a single KoB member I had to trust. And another two that I thought I could.

"Hey, Asuna! And you two! Come here!" I called out. They looked at me, and walked my way.

On a side note, all solo players, like me, have two skills that are completely essential to them, _Search_ and _Hide_. These prevent ambushes and can prevent fights against most mobs when one is weak. At that particular moment, I was exercising my "search" ability, and I noticed something that made me feel uneasy. Asuna and the others had walked halfway to me. She was talking with Mikasa, while Mikasa listened. And my uneasy feeling had still not gone away.

I ran, as fast as I could, jumped in front of Asuna and Mikasa. It took Asuna a moment to see what I was doing, but when she did, she jumped in front of Eren. Although I had jumped to protect her, I had to recognize she had done the sensible move here. I had tried to protect her, but instead, now we were both protecting the low-leveled members of the party.

Before I could protest, my premonition came true. Two arrows, dipped in poison, imbued themselves in Asuna and me. Based on their angle, they had been aimed at Eren and Mikasa.

I fell to the ground. Hard. The arrow's paralyzing poison had made a prisoner of me and Asuna.

"Asuna! Kirito!" cried Mikasa. In the next second, she looked at the direction the arrows had come from. Sure enough, another round was on its way. Mikasa took the still-shocked Eren in her arms, and used her 3D gear to get them both up. When the arrows passed safely beneath them, Eren finally regained his senses.

"Mikasa, let go of me." he commanded. A command which Mikasa obeyed. Just before he hit the ground, Eren bit his hand, and now, standing instead of him (and almost on top of me), was a Titan, with a girl in 3D gear in his shoulder.

"ROAAAAAAAR!" Eren roared. At once, the arrows stopped, as if the archers had been paralyzed themselves. Of course, when the fifteen-meter titan jumped in their direction, the archers continued shooting. But why didn't their poison affect this boss, they seemed to ask. Little did they know, that it would probably take the venom from a real floor boss to even slow Eren down,

Then, as Eren neared the enemies, one of them, braver than the rest, jumped forward and cut Eren's hand off. Upon seeing this, many of the attackers, the ones already with swords, jumped with a war cry towards Eren, slashing at him. Only, that they couldn't cut him anymore, not even the ones with the highest-leveled weapons. This was because Eren had covered himself in an impregnable armor. Even his hand, which was still regenerating, seemed to have this hard plating. This was not all: Eren had recently discovered that he could make objects out of titan crystal. So, he grabbed as many of the enemies as he could, and made a crystal around them, sealing them. Of course, he let them breathe, but none of them could use crystals, save for one smart guy who already had it in his hand, and left the battlefield.

But there were still too many. Eren did not want to kill, but if he didn't he was eventually going to need to. This was where Mikasa came in. She used Hurricane Spin in combination with Comet Reach, pulling herself from Eren's shoulder towards an unsuspecting man in armor, rapidly grinding away at his hp. At the end of the 11-hit combo, the man's hp was in the red. Mikasa calmly stood behind him, with her blade at his neck.

"Don't attack!" screamed Mikasa. "Or he dies!"

The enemies hesitated. But then, the hostage spoke. "Do it, kill me, if you can kill her! Kill me, and then get out of this hellhole!"

With tears in their eyes, those who had bows lifted them, and shot. It took all of Mikasa's now-high dexterity skill, and all the speed of the maneuver gear, to get away. As she did, she heard the sound of glass being shattered. A player being killed.

As this was happening, I managed to move my eyes (and only that) from the scene. What I saw was worse. Asuna had tears in her face.

"A... yuna" I managed to mumble through my paralysis. Asuna!

"Yo... kay" she answered. I thought it to mean 'you okay?'

"Yeah... you?" I asked, but she said no with her eyes. "Yo... su... ke..."

I finally understood her. Yosuke. I knew that man, he had been friendly to me in the past. And, thinking about it, I had just seen his death.

A tear fell down Asuna's cheek. "Kay... Oh... Bee..." se said. KoB. Short for Knights of the Blood. I looked back at the scene, and noticed that, indeed, all of the attackers were wearing the signature white and red of the Knight of the Blood Oath. This was the true meaning of Heathcliff's message?"

As I looked, both Mikasa and Eren were trying their hardest to hurt without killing, but Mikasa's hp was in the yellow, and some player, who had probably dealt with titans. had divulged Eren's weak spot. Even though it was covered in Titan Crystal, the protection was not from an immortal object. It would be destroyed eventually.

Then, a miracle happened. My paralysis, which should not have been gone for a while, suddenly dissipated. Shortly after. so did Asuna's.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know, but we don't have time for that. Use a healing crystal, I think the arrows that hit us were pretty strong, but then let's go help Eren and Mikasa."

Within ten seconds, we were already attacking, and Asuna, using a second healing crystal she had gotten from a monster drop shortly before, completely healed Mikasa.

Having seen Eren capture enemies with his crystal, I decided to pull out two valuable items from my inventory into being: Two paralyze rods. They were used as swords, but caused no damage. Plus, despite their rarity, their durability couldn't be replenished by blacksmiths, so each use of the paralyzing weapons was valuable.

And so, I managed immobilize many of the enemy forces, while Eren captured them. The few that were not captured had their HP's worn down by Mikasa so low, that they had no option but to teleport away.

During the whole battle, it was only Asuna that did not do any form of an attack, even on foes with full HP. She only parried, until Mikasa picked up on this, and began to protect her. After a while, the battle was over, and I collapsed, follwed by Asuna, followed by an earthquake, caused by Eren collapsing, too. The smoke that came from his body told us that he would revert to normal soon. Only Mikasa was able to slowly sit down, but she too was exhausted.

"Who... were those people...?" Eren asked, once out of the giant body.

There was silence for a few seconds. Finally, Asuna managed to catch her breath, and spoke.

"You've met them before. The are the Knights of the Blood Oath. We are part of their guild."

Even though I already knew that, it did not take away from the shock. This was because, even within the KoB, there were many people I respected. Unlike dark guilds, we had almost no morally challenged members, and so far I had only met one, Kuradeel. But he was dead, so he could not have been orchestrating it.

But then who could?

The only obvious answer was Heathcliff. He had the power, and I had been suspicious of him for some time now. He was not an ordinary player, that's for sure. But could he convince the KoB to put their lives on the line for anything other than a boss? Or to kill other players? And why did he apologize to me? That probably meant that it really was his fault, but the fact that he actually told me meant that a) it was an accident, or b) he was testing me. I could understand if it was an accident, but I would be really pissed off it it was a test.

"Asuna, help me figure this out. Asuna? Oh, sh-" I noticed that Asuna was crying. Hard.

"Why." she said, as I rushed to comfort her. "Why must it be this way."

"I know, Asuna. I felt it, too."

"No, you didn't, Kirito. You barely knew them, but I..." Asuna paused. I said nothing, and neither did the visitors from another world. "Look. When I first joined the Knights of the Blood, I met a guy. His name was Akasui. He was a lot older than I was, but that didn't... that didn't stop the big guy from showing me around, and from being nice to me. He was the one who pushed me to become the guild leader's second-in-command. He even proposed to me once, and even though I said no, he continued being friendly to me. But just now, he came at me with intent to kill. And he almost did. I could not attack, and he was free to do as he wanted. It was only thanks to Mikasa that I survived."

She nodded at Mikasa. I expected her to continue, but she was mute after that. I was my turn to speak.

"Asuna. I'm sorry, I guess I'm really useless in this situation, huh? I don't think I've been vulnerable like that to many people. Klein, Agil, Lizbeth, Silica, my sister Suguha back at home, and of course, you. The closest I've been to being betrayed was just before the leader of the Moonlit Black Cats called me a beater and killed himself. But let me tell you this: I can see. I can see how much this hurts you, and I swear I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

I turned my back to her, and headed in the direction of Eren's newly-formed prision.

"Eren, come with me. I will need some pressure for this, and this guys are probably all scared shitless of you."

Eren obeyed and, without needing to be told anything, Mikasa went to Asuna. Saying nothing, she put her arm around my wife. I silently thanked her, and kept walking, until I was at the first titan crystal. Since the prisoners' heads were uncovered, we could have a conversation. I saw two familiar faces.

"Nexus, Sarutobi. I remember you telling me you were twins. I also remember that you told me about some valuable quests. Now, why did you attack us?"

They kept their mouths shut.

"Now, listen. My friend here, his name is Eren. He, as you can see, is pretty reckless. And, as you witnessed, he can turn into a boss. I calculate his boss level to be at around eighty. The worst thing is, if he goes berserk, I can't stop him. The only one who has been able so far is another friend of ours, Mikasa. But right now, she's too busy consoling my wife. Which you and the rest of the guild got crying in the first place. So, tell me what I want to know, so I can go comfort her myself, and keep Eren's safety switch on."

I felt bad for this. Normally, I would never threaten other players, but this time, they had made Asuna cry, and tried to kill her. Even if this was the case, I felt bad for exaggerating Eren's possibility of going berserk, and besides, I knew that he shouldn't be able to titan-shift for a little while longer. Even so, nothing of what I said was strictly a lie. But still, not a word from the prisoners.

"Still nothing? You know me. I am not an orange or red player. I don't want anything to happen to you. And I don't mean this as a threat, either. If you tell me why we were attacked, we'll let you go. I even have spare teleport crystals. In fact, I got a bunch of extra swords and bows as loot recently, and I'll gladly give them to you. You can even continue fighting me after we release you, although I wouldn't recommend it, even with the new weapons you'll have. What I'm saying is not unreasonable. Tell me who tried to kill me and my wife, and the newcomers as well."

Eren nodded at me, and I knew instantly that he had recovered in record time. I felt a pang of guilt when he bit his hand, losing a sliver of HP, and transformed into a titan. He roared to the prisoner's faces.

"Stop it!" cried a voice behind me. I was surprised to discover that it belonged to Asuna.

"Please, Kirito. I don't want it to be like this. I know that you won't hurt them, but you're scaring them too much."

"Hey, don't call my bluff!" I said, but actually, I was kind of relieved that she was standing, and that I didn't have to put up that act anymore. Eren discarded his titan, and stood next to me. By his stance, he looked like he was my very own second-in-command. But no matter how much I liked the idea, now was not the time,

"Now," she started, "Nexus, Sarutobi, please. I beg of you. Help me, because if you don't, I will probably die. The guild is too strong, eventually it will be too much for us, And I don't want to die, not by the hands of a friend."

To my surprise, Nexus hesitated, and started speaking, but Sarutobi interrupted.

"Don't you dare to tell them anything, you little piece of shit!" Sarutobi said. But Nexus still spoke.

"It was never... out intention... to hurt lady Asuna... We were told to kill four players... in exchange for something... that the orange guild, Titan's Mitt, promised. That is all I can say."

I noticed that Nexus was crying. I came to him, and whispered in his ear.

"Thanks, man. It was really cool if you to tell me. I owe you one, so if you think you can get in trouble for telling this to us, I can find you one or two safe places, and protect you when you need it. And sorry for, you know, threatening you. It's as she said, I wouldn't kill you."

I paused. "Anyway, you going to take my end of the deal or not?"

He looked at me, and silently nodded.

* * *

**And there you have it! I hate to leave you in (sort of) suspense, but, wait a second, I love it Muahahaha! Anywhom, I say, until next time! Oh, and thanks, fazrulz21 for reviewing and getting me writing. Don't ever underestimate the power of a single review. It might just keep a dead story alive.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey people! I have little time, and a lot to edit, so I will just leave it at ****_I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I have!_**

* * *

A giant-type mob sat with us in the room. At least, that's what it looked like, but it was really our friend Agil. He looked as shocked as I expected him to be.

"_More_ of you want to stay at my shop!?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, if you could." said Asuna.

"Hmm... Kirito, can I talk to you in _private_?"

"Sure." I answered.

We went upstairs, because the shop was so small that it was the inly place where we could get some privacy.

"Look, man. When I let you stay here, I did it because you're my friend. Now you're asking for _three_ people?"

"Also, all of them are KoB fugitives."

"You've got to be kidding- wait, KoB? Wasn't that your own guild?"

"Yeah, but for some reason they started attacking us."

"_Us_? You mean you were also being attacked? Damn, I've got a bad feeling about this." Agil made a complicated face.

"I know. That's why I'm asking for your help. They can't stay at inns, I know of a few KoB members who can listen through doors."

"Well... but don't you and Asuna have a place? Why not there?"

"Some of Asuna's old friends know where it was. It can't be more than two or three guys, but I don't wanna take any chances."

"Wait, if that's so, where are you gonna sleep?"

"I was thinking of sleeping in the Ice Dragon's nest, five floors above us. I can defeat it easily by now, and I have some items that could let me climb in and out of the hole. Not many players venture there, and I'm sure that no KoB has been there before, or else there would be some swords made from Crystal Ingots in the guild."

"So you're leaving the brats with me. Why?"

"Because, until we get authorization from Heathcliff, we can't actually quit the KoB. Since we're at positions with power, the guild leader has to allow us to leave before we do. Because of this, they can track which floor we're in, but the other three already quit the guild. We have to be separated, and I'm sure someone already knows that your shop is one of our favorite places in the floor, so we can't stay here. There is no other way."

When I made the compliment, I knew how obvious it was, but flattery, especially honest flattery, is never obvious for the receiver. Agil, despite his dark skin, got a hue of red, a side effect of us existing in a virtual space. Emotions can't be easily hidden here, since the system tends to exaggerate them.

"Besides, it's not like I can't pay you. I'll get another Crystal Ingot once I'm there. Deal?"

Agil still hesitated. I had a trump card, but to tell the truth, I didn't want to use it.

"Come on, Agil. How are these guys different from all the mid-level players you spend so much of your income helping?"

If he was red before, now he looked like the Red Hulk.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about." he said, but he walked to the door. Before he was through, he looked at me. "Make it two Crystal Ingots, and you found your friends a home."

When we came down, Agil loudly exclaimed, "Listen up, this guy in black just cut you a good deal, so you're going to stay with me. State your name and level, and I'll try to remember it."

_There's no need to be so intimidating_, Agil, I thought.

"Eren Jaeger, Survey Corps member, level 78." Said Eren, performing a strange salute, with one hand on his heart. If this was something from his old home, I guessed it was either a sign of respect or a way to prevent himself from going crazy."

"Mikasa Ackerman, Survey Corps member, level 65." she said, with no emotion in her eyes, but the same salute.

"Umm, I'm Nexus, level 88, nice to meet you..." said our third guest, feeling extremely awkward at not being part of this apparent trend.

"Level 88, huh?" asked Agil. "Mind telling me how you met these two? I didn't know they teemed up with people their own level."

"Hey!" I complained. "I've teamed up with you and Klein!"

"Well, aside from us, I mean."

"It's not important, as I said, they need protection from the KoB."

"Yes, I understand. Well, Kirito, it will be night in a few hours. You better hit the road." said Agil, and after saying goodbye, Asuna and I left for the fifty-fifth floor.

* * *

"Kirito, I know that there aren't many places in Aincrad we can hide on, but could you have chosen one where we didn't have to take a two hour hike to reach?"

"Don't worry, Asuna. We're close. Ready to beat a dragon?"

Asuna smiled. "I've been looking forward to it all trip long."

A few minutes later, we reached the crystal forest, and talked strategy. The moment we were done, a giant dragon appeared in the horizon. I looked at Asuna, and her eyes were full of determination.

"Let's go!" I screamed.

* * *

"Well, that was a disappointment." said Asuna.

"What did you expect?" I told her. "This is floor 55, we're strong enough to beat the boss from this floor blindfolded with no healing items."

"Yeah, but... come on, for the mission to get a Dark Repulser, that was pretty easy. How come nobody else has another one yet?"

"I guess nobody's figured out that the ore is actually dragon poop."

Asuna blushed for some reason. "Wait, are you saying that... your sword..."

"Yeah. You remember that Liz said that I had thrown her dragon poop, right? What did you think she meant?"

Asuna blushed further. Her chestnut hair heavily contrasted her tomato-colored skin. "N-never touch me with that sword again!"

"Why would I? It's not like you're my enemy."

"But- but-"

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll put it away, okay?"

"P-please do."

"Alright," I said as I placed my sword in my inventory. "You know I love you, so I'll do mostly anything you say."

Her eyes glowed. "Even go on an incredibly hard mission to get an ultra-rare ingredient?"

"Maybe not that far or, wait, will you cook it?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll have to think about it."

After that, we talked for a while, until it was dark, and we had to use the rope ladder I had brought to get us inside the hole. We started unpacking, and by the time we were done, the place looked more comfortable than a high-class inn. Asuna even packed materials to make fire, so we were warm and cosy. Plus, we found more than two dozen crystaline ingots. I wanted to sell them to random players, but Asuna insisted that I give/sell them to Liz. In the end, I agreed that I would, as long as she made me another Dark Repulser, and promised not to make another one for anybody.

"Still," Asuna said, "I think the way Dark Repulser was made is very _repulsive_." She was obviously trying to make a joke, but my swords were precious to me.

"Cut it out, will ya? I love both my swords, Elucidor and Dark Repulser."

"Well, I'd hope that you love them a little less than you love me."

"Of course I do! Why would you think anything else?"

"Just teasing you. And, because I also happen to love you, I'll let you use it when you need."

"Glad that's sorted out." I said, relieved. "Anyhow, don't you think it's time to hit the hay, or in this case, the snow?"

"Sure, just let me get our bed out."

As she did it, I put my mind to keeping the fire alive, but then the ground trembled. _Was the dragon back?_

I looked at Asuna, and she was standing next to one of the biggest beds I've ever seen. The mattress was round, and it was twenty feet in diameter, at least.

"W-why did you get such a large bed?" I asked

"Oh, this? It was a quest reward."

"And what did it involve? Beating a floor boss?"

"Close, or at least, as difficult. I got the quest in floor seven. Remember when I used to think that every day on Aincrad was a day lost?" I nodded and she continued. "Seeing this quest made me laugh at the time. I kept it as a reminder of what I could never do. A quest I could not allow myself to complete. A reminder of my responsibility in my family, once I got back."

Asuna had never mentioned her family, not even once. Because of they way she walked, plus the fact that I once convinced her to come to my place due to the fact that I owned a bath (a needless luxury here in Aincrad), I assumed she had come from a pretty high place in society. I could easily say that by "responsibilities", she could mean getting married into another high-class family. Of course, now she had me, but I could not help but wonder.

"Not that it matters anymore." she said, appeasing my mind. "But still, I want you to look at it."

She showed me a quest log window and I was, quite frankly, surprised. The misson was:

_Sweetened Heart_

_-Be rude to Smooching Couple NPCs_ (this kind of sounded like Asuna, alright)  
-_Listen to them speak for a long time. If attention seems lost, the quest fails. (she probably was waiting for a chance to win an argument)  
-When the couple asks, "You will get married yourself one day, you know?", disagree.  
-Get Married.  
-Come back to Smooching Couple NPCs._

I could not get my head around this. The quest was overly specific. Probably not many people had completed it. Besides, this was an adventure mission, which meant that you had to guess what the next action was based on the context, although you _are_ informed when the choice is correct. But this mission? It sounded like Asuna didn't even know she had it until later on.

"So," said Asuna, "I have the largest bed in Aincrad. Want to make good use of it?"

* * *

I woke up feeling like I could do anything. After making the most beautiful girl in Aincrad fall for me, I could take on floor bosses 75-100 by myself, easy. Speaking of which, the beautiful girl was sleeping next to me. Despite how much I felt like a winner at the time, I knew we had to go. As I always did, I poked Asuna in the cheek lightly, and she slowly woke up. One of the big, big advantages of Aincrad was that even a scarcely clothed girl could be ready to leave in thirty seconds flat, counting the time it took her to get up.

"Alright, let's go." she said. We packed everything in our shared inventory, and left the pit in the rope ladder from before. As soon as we were out of the hole, which is to say, out of the no-teleport-zone, we took our tiny blue crystals out of our pockets and left for floor 50.

When we emerged from the light, there was chaos going on around us. Some people were running in one direction, some (better armed) in another, and notably, some NPCs were gone. There was only one way for that to happen.

They were killed.

And it seemed that the NPCs were just collateral. There was damage everywhere, and things were burning by the dozens. I heard a female voice as loud as Akihiko Kayaba's call from when we first started playing Sword Art Online.

"**Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, show yourselves, and nobody else has to die today!**"

This was bad. This was very bad. Even if the KoB couldn't find Eren, Mikasa, and yes, Nexus, they could sure as hell lure them out. Why didn't I think of that? We had been there earlier, so we could have been tracked when we were dropping Eren and the others off.

Sure enough, a thunder was seen near Agil's shop. Then, there was a gian creature, a titan, rushing through the streets, trapping enemies in the famous titan crystal. Another figure was helping him, a girl who had 3D gear. Surprisingly, a young man with blonde hair was also with them, Nexus. I was sure that no force in Aincrad could take the trio, but I still had a hunch that I needed to get there as soon as I could. Apparently, Asuna could feel the same thing, because she looked at me, and we ran, but I quickly outran her. I jumped on a rooftop, and tried to get a good view, so I knew exactly when I was needed. A figure. wearing 3D gear, was fighting against Eren and the others. And another, a female. And yet a third one. Three figures in 3D gear did not sound like good news, but I saw nothing I could do.

I finally saw my chance to act when I saw a blue glimmer in one of the opponent's hands. A corridor crystal. These valuable items existed so that you could transport many objects at once to a single place. Or a single, large object. Something like a titan. I leaped, trying to knock the crystal off the person's hands. I had the feeling that I wasn't gonna make it. I saw the blue glimmer turn into bright blue light.

"_System Command: Deactivate Corridor_!" I heard a voice say. I knew the owner of the voice. It was none other than Heathcliff. Counting this moment, he had a lot of explaining to do.

Surprisingly, the blue light disappeared, and the crystal shattered as if its duration had reached zero.

The figure in 3D gear, a girl with blonde hair, just smiled, and calmly spoke. "You're finally here. _System Command: remove Administrator Privileges: Heathcliff_."

There was silence, as I let reality sink in. I quickly analyzed every possible scenario in which this could make sense. Slowly, every one was eliminated, until there was only one possibility.

I had been right to suspect Heathcliff.

No, that's not right.

I had been right to suspect... Akihiko Kayaba.

* * *

**And there you have it. A new chapter of SAO:TTS. By the way, whether there was a "Chapter 6.5" somewhere in this episode, I leave it for you to decide. Anyhow, I gotta go, but expect another chapter soon. Oh, and from now on, elements from the light novels will be used, and will be central to the plot. I ****_will_**** explain them, but I ****_do_**** reccomend reading the light novels to better understand them. You can do it at either Wattpad or Baka-Tsuki.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey everybody! Once again, I don't have a lot of time, so I'll upload a good little chapter now. As you probably know by now, I wanna always be with you, I'll give you everything I have.**

* * *

_Akihiko Kayaba._

There were no moderators or devs in the game, so there was only one person who could have administrator privilieges. Heathcliff had them. If he was Akihiko Kayaba, that would explain a lot. First, why he never got in his guild's affairs. Because he _always_ knew better. Second, why his HP had never gone below the green. His HP must have been protected by the system. Third, how he could move so quickly during our duel. If the system could assist him in the same way swords skills were used, he could do pretty much anything. Finally, his smug face, like he was a god, watching puny and foolish humans discover fire by using sticks and stones, when he had a lighter in his pocket all along. He even participated in his own death game, but there was also a reason for this, that even a child should know: there is nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG. All the grinding could make anyone go crazy.

Of course, I understood that there were some holes in my theory. For example, how could the creator of the game be stripped of his privileges? Who could have the authority to do that? It could be a ruse, but somehow I didn't think it was. Save for that little detail, my theory was perfect.

Confirming the latter part of my theory, the blonde girl attacked Heathcliff using a few 3D gear sword skills at a time. As expected of Heathcliff, his shield blocked every strike. Instead of finishing, the girl activated a technique with her 3D gear when her sword techniques were done, and a sword technique when her sword techniques were done. I liked this, this "continuous skill" she was doing, I would have to try that later.

Then, a shocking event happened. She reached the half of his health bar. Heathcliff went all out, and activated a skill I had never seen before, in which he moved faster than the eye could see. He dished a few hundred blows in a few seconds, all of them good hits, designed to strike down the avarage defense pattern. Of course, they were not designed to deal with people who could lift themselves out of reach, and when the skill was finished, in the split-second in which the skill recharged, two swords came down on Heathcliff. A purple window appeared in both of the places her swords hit. They both had the message, "Immortal Object". As I thought, this man could be no other than Akihiko Kayaba.

"Just as I thought." said the blonde girl, reading my mind. "_System Command: make into Mortal Object: Heathcliff!_"

Both windows changed from purple to green, and they now read "Mortal Object."

I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. I had found Akihiko Kayaba. The man who had trapped me all this time. I could kill him right now, if I helped the blonde girl in 3D gear. But would that help me? Would we get out?

On the other hand, I could help Heathcliff, and get him to remove us from the game in the end. But could I beat this blonde girl? Even if she was doing so well against Heathcliff?

Yeah, I probably could. I was used to the 3D gear by now. Which meant I had two choices: The man who imprisoned us, who could be blamed as much as I could for Sachi's death, or the girl who was trying to hurt my new friends?

I had to make a choice, and so I did. This girl was definitely not my ally so, no matter how hard, I had to take Heathcliff's side. Maybe that would buy me some answers later on.

"Heathcliff!" I screamed. I lunged at the blonde warrior, trying to take her out. As far as I had studied, the 3D gear's only weakness was the inability to quickly change directions in unpredictable patterns. If a person is surprised, they can only go diagonally right or diagonally left. With some timing, this can be changed to practically anywhere within the the two directions, but if I were to intercept her in the middle of the cone, she would not be able to run away.

As to my calculations, I did just that, and used a Dual Wielding skill in mid-air, Double Vertical, which allowed me to make a strike to both of her escape routes. As I expected, she tried to go to my left, but she didn't expect the two swords. I slashed at her. dropping her like a meteor to the ground. She got up, but it seemed that her 3D gear was damaged on the left side. Plus, her swords were broken.

"Game Over." I said, but she didn't seem to agree. She used the remaining half of her 3D gear to pull herself towards us.

"Heathcliff," I calmly said. "I'm gonna use Starbust Stream."

Instead of answering, and further confirming my guess, he stood next to me, and activated a sword skill. "Sunburst Barrage." he said. The skill he activated used his sword and shield, and was a perfect compliment to Starburst Stream. It covered my weak spots when I attacked, as well as Heathcliff's, and it attacked when my swords weren't. This was the final nail in the coffin. How could he know my sword's skills so perfectly, if he had not developed the game?

The blonde girl, unsuspecting of the amount of hits, succumbed to more than she could probably handle. She let out a tortured scream as her life bar reached the yellow, and finally, the red. When the attack was done, she looked at her hand. In it, there were bite marks. She pondered for a second, but she decided against whatever she had thought.

"_System Command: Force Party Join: Eren Jaeger; Tactical Retreat: Whole Party._" she said, and she disappeared in blue light. Her two partners along with her, and somehow, Eren.

Heathcliff was shocked. So was I, but I had things to do. I placed my swords to his neck. "Heatcliff, you better explain this. Or should I say, Akihiko Kayaba?"

He smiled. Two swords to his neck, and the guy smiles. "I'm surprised you managed to discover me, but given my display just now, it hardly should be, don't you agree, Kazuto Kirigaya?"

I was going to ask how he knew my name, but I didn't want to admit how much I didn't know, and besides, I had a pretty good guess. "I had my suspicions. So you really are the villian of Sword Art Online."

"A role I chose for myself. A stern father to many young children."

"A father who kills his own children?"

"Never by my hand do they die. The strong are rewarded, and the weak but intelligent are allowed to live. Only the foolish who do not know their limits die."

"Do you really believe that? That the people dark guilds kill are foolish? That people who find themselves overwhelmed by dozens of monsters are idiots? What about those who die on boss battles? The death count is at four thousand in two years. Four out of ten people have died. Do you believe they are idiots?"

"Yes. I do." he said. "While there were unfortunate accidents, the people who were killed by dark guilds were mostly lured and outsmarted by them. I designed the game so that, if a person was at a reasonable level, they would not be overwhelmed, unless they fell on certain traps, which tickled at their greed. As for boss battles, as much as you might like to think otherwise, most of the people who died wanted a rare drop, like your Elucidor, or the coat your friend risked himself to get in floor one. The rest of those who died in boss fights did not do the work of studying their enemy, and recklessly attacked, or did not rely enough on their partners. Hypothetically, my game could have been played with zero casualties. Of course, not everyone was worthy, so this figure is impossible."

"_Worthy_? Is that what this game is to you? A test of who's _worthy_? Who the hell would want to prove himself worthy to _you_?" He was making me lose my cool. Besides, I hated how hiss words made sense. Still, it gave him no right to kill.

"That is a simple question, as it already contains the answer. Not many people, save for my subordinates, wanted to prove themselves to me. Now, everybody is trying their best to pass the test of my design, to reach the last floor and defeat the final boss which is, by the way, none other than me."

It took all that I had not to take his life. Last I knew, he was a level 100, only two levels above me. Judging by the amount of health he had, my Elucidor and Dark Repulser could completely kill him.

Still, I needed some answers, and he probably knew that.

"Is that why you created Sword Art Online?"

"Part of the reason, yes. But I must admit, there is another. Ever since I was little, I had this great vision of a castle. As I grew older. my castle grew bigger and more complicated. Until every nook and cranny has been explored, until every secret has been found, until that moment will my castle be allowed to die."

"And if I were to kill you right now?" I asked.

"I would wake up in a room, next to my assistant, and jump in with another character. Of course, without a final boss, the game will be unbeatable."

Of course he wouldn't die in his own death game.

"Either way," he said, "I may not even be able to do that. My administrator privileges have been revoked. Of course, my own NRV Gear has been modified to allow me to live through death in the game, but I may not be able to come again. Or give the order to release anyone. Basically, my advantages over you have significantly decreased."

He paused, and continued.

"Still, I do not want another person to have control over my world. So, I'm willing to call a truce."

"And why would I make a truce with you?"

"Because, if I die, Sword Art Online can never be completely closed. If you don't fight with me, and I fail because of this, all of your lives may end. And finally, because if, by some miracle, Sword Art Online is closed without me, I will not be able to save your friends from the world of the titans."

"So you know why they're here?" I asked, temporally curious.

"Not why as much as how. I know that they are not on a NRV Gear, but they are instead an object called Fluctlights. To prevent getting into details, they are souls, read into the system."

"And how did they reach Aincrad?"

"I will tell you later on, during our partnership."

"And what makes you think I will partner up with you?"

"You will, in the meantime, take these crystals. They can take you and four of your friends in and out of boss rooms, from any floor. I will be waiting for you in the floor 100 boss room."

He handed me five golden crystals, and took one himself. As it glowed, Heathcliff said few parting words. "I will now disband the Knights of the Blood Oath. I hope to see you soon in Ruby Castle. Oh, and Kirito," he opened his inventory, and got a long golden sword. "This is Excaliber. It is deep into the game's hard code, so it can't be erased or altered without modifying the whole system. It is the most powerful sword in the game, but a master swordsman and dual wielder like you should be able to wield it."

He threw the sword at me, and Disappeared before I could catch it. The golden light stayed in my eyes for a few seconds.

"Kirito!" I heard Asuna scream. "Kirito, I finally found you! Hey, what's with that expression?"

"Eren was kidnapped." I said. And then I added, "And I think I just made us allies with Akihiko Kayaba."

* * *

**One chapter of SAO:TTS!, piping hot! Here, we see Kayaba reveal his identity to Kirito. What does that mean for the story, though? It was through discovering Kayaba's identity that Kirito was able to get out with the other six thousand people, so what would have happened if he had discovered it under different circumstances? Well, what follows is my personal guess. Read on and find out! See you soon!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey everybody! Didn't think you'd see me so soon, did ya? Well, it's getting here, so another chapter of SAO:TTS, coming up! (Btw, I wanna always be with you. Also, I'll give you everything I have.)**

* * *

"What do you mean? You... you just became an ally of the man keeping us here?" asked Asuna, tears in her eyes. I noticed that she said "you", instead of "we".

"It's not what you think." I said. Mikasa arrived just then too, complicating the situation.

"You know I want to get out of here." said Asuna. "I want to date you for real and kiss you for real and... so... why... how could you do this? To me? To all of us?"

"It's not what you think, let me explain." I said. I should have predicted this would happen.

"I... I need to think about this. I love you, with all my heart, but this is too much."

She ran. "Mikasa, stop her!" I screamed, but Mikasa moved aside. "You have to do this. Don't leave it to anybody else." she said calmly.

She was right. I had to explain this. It could not be any other way. I ran as fast as I could, trying to catch her. I finally saw her. She was holding a crystal in her hand. A teleport crystal.

"_Wait, Kayaba is... _" I started.

_"Heathcliff!"  
"Teleport!"_

We both shouted at the same time. I don't know if she heard me, but she was gone a moment after. I guess I was a solo player again.

And I felt very, very alone.

* * *

It took me a few days to stop thinking of Asuna for more than a minute. I could see in my inventory we were still married, so I could see what was almost a copy of her status/menu window. I deposited camping materials, money, and crystals as often as I could. I left there more teleport crystals than I could count, leaving me to walk many times to and from places. But still, no answer. She wouldn't touch a single thing I left there. Not a loaf of bread with cream, not a sleeping bag, not a tent, not a rapier, not a crystal. I was depressed to my core.

Then, on the seventh day of her leaving, the worst thing happened. I saw she was in trouble. In her stats, I could see that she was going through a difficult fight. Her HP was at 8%, and she had no healing crystals on her. I had a one, and I was guessing she had none. Her HP was regenerating slowly, so she was having potions, but it was decreasing at random rates. I deposited both of my healing crystals in the shared inventory. I had next to no hope. But then again, would she die of stubbornness?

_8%  
9%  
5%  
6%  
7%  
3%_

I could see the pattern. Gain two percent slowly, and quickly lose four.

_4%  
5%_

I knew what was next. A tear left my eye.

_1%_

She would not live through another blow. I had to do something. I _had_ to. I pulled out my menu, and quietly wrote a message.

"Don't die, Asuna. I love you." the message said. It was an urgent-type PM, so she would see it immediately. She had not answered a single one of my messages. In fact, she probably had seen none.

I fell down. I could not bear this. When she died, I decided that I would soon have to follow her.

_2%  
3%_

I closed my eyes. I didn't have the heart to see the "Widowed" message.

Beep.

That was it. That was the sound. A notification.

I had to see it. I _had_ to.

I creaked my eyes open, ever so slowly.

_URGENT PM_

What? Didn't she...? I looked at my (her) stat window.

_100%  
96%_

That was it. A miracle. I watched her hp go up and down, until it was not going down anymore. She had won. She was safe.

I let out a breath of relief. I could breathe now.

I checked the message. It was from Asuna.

"_i wont. me 2. ttyl._"

She probably had little time to write that. "I won't. Me too. Talk to you later." I read out loud.

A miracle.

It was a tiny improvement, but she had taken something from me, and thanks to that, she was alive. She let me save her.

* * *

Over the next few days, she started taking stuff from our inventory indiscriminately. I constantly looked out for her, saving her on more than one occasion. She even used a few teleport crystals, but she still had not come home.

"_PM from: Asuna_"

She sent another message. I rushed to open this one.

"_Thank you for the other day, Kirito. Meet me at our house._"

This was the moment I had been waiting for. I left the minor boss I was fighting and immediately teleported to floor 22.

I saw the house that I loved. For the last few days, I had stayed up late waiting for Asuna, but she never did come. Mikasa was staying with me, in a different room, and I found out that she also stayed late. When I asked her about it, she said nothing, but I suspected that she was waiting for Eren, as well. Fortunately, Nexus was staying still at Agil's, so I didn't have to deal with his problems, too.

But today was different. Mikasa was probably grinding for XP, as she obsessively did every day. Which meant that we would be alone.

When I entered the house, I was completely terrified of what she could say. Maybe she was breaking up with me? What if she wanted a divorce? I pushed these thoughts from my mind, and focused on the figure that came into my sight.

She was wearing battle clothes, but they were not the red and white of the KoB. Her dress was almost the exact same as before, but all the red was gone. Most of the red highlights had been turned to gray and black, and all of the crosses were gone. Her eyes looked completely different, like she had been toughened up in the last few days.

"Hello, Kirito." she said. Her eyes looked angry, like she would punch me. As if reading my mind, she stepped forward, and lifted her fist as if she was about to do just that. I braced myself, but the blow never came. Instead, she hugged me.

"H-huh?" I asked, confused. I hugged her back, and she started to cry. She continued to do so for a few minutes, and I held her all throughout it.

"I... I've missed you... so much..." she said between sobs.

Then, something happened that I did not expect. My own tears betrayed me, leaving my eyes like waterfalls, splashing down on her chestnut hair. I held her closer, as if I was afraid that she would leave again, but tenderly, as I was afraid that, with enough force, she would break and disappear.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. I really don't. I only know that when I did, I felt something I never had before, and I couldn't very well explain what. It felt like relief, but it wasn't just that. It felt like love. A newborn love, reborn from the its own ashes like a phoenix.

"Asuna, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I said.

"No, Kirito. It was my fault. I should have heard you out. I should have stood by you. I should have done my responsibility as your wife. But instead, I was selfish, judgmental, and prideful. I wanted to turn back the instant I teleported, but I didn't have another teleport crystal. By the time I got one, I just couldn't say the words. 'Teleport, floor 22'. It would have been so simple. But what would I do when I got here? What would I say? And what if you were working to keep us all here? Could I forgive you? And if you somehow weren't, would you forgive _me_?"

She paused. As it was, it looked like she had gone through the same questions I had. She continued.

"But still, it was unfair to not let you explain. I knew that, and so, out of guilt, I avoided you. Whenever you PM'd me, I'd be reminded of that. And so, I pretended I didn't read your messages. I pretended not to notice your items in my, our, inventory. I could have ended our marriage, but that was too painful. Still, when I was about to die against that giant Hydra, your message gave me strength. You reminded me that I have a reason to live. So, sorry it took so long for me to come here after that, but I had to think about what I was going to say."

She looked down, and I realized the ball was in my court. It was my turn to speak.

"No, Asuna. The one who was unfair was me. I didn't explain the details of my deal with Kayaba to you. I even told Mikasa to stop you when I should have been the one to do it. That was wrong of me. But listen, I didn't make a deal to keep us here longer. If this pays off, I may get everyone out of here. And if it doesn't, if Kayaba and I fail, this game will become utterly unbeatable."

I then filled her in on everything Kayaba told me. I refrained from saying that Kayaba was actually Heathcliff. She didn't need that kind of psychological betrayal in her system right now.

"Then I'm coming with you." said Asuna.

"It will be more dangerous than you think, I would rather..."

"...do this with anyone other than your wife?" she interrupted. "Absolutely _not_!"

I tried to argue a little, but her mind was made up.

"Well, we still have to get Eren, right?" asked Asuna.

"I can take care of that." said a newcomer to our conversation.

"Mikasa!?" I asked. "How long have you been there?"

"As long as you two have been talking." she answered

"Couldn't you just... you know... yawn or something, so we knew you were here?" asked Asuna, her cheeks as red as if she had eaten the rare food item, Inferno Dragon's Jalapeños.

"I could have, but... you two have something good, almost enviable. If I'd interfered, this issue might have stayed unsolved, and what you have could have ended."

I could not argue with her logical way of thinking but still...

"Also, now I know the plans for the mission. Considering the fact that I found yesterday where the Knights if the Blood Oath are keeping Eren, I considered that it would be best if you two got back to the way you used to be. Nexus is on his way here. As soon as he is, I recommend we go het Eren. And afterwards, I will never let him get hurt or kidnapped again. Not him, who taught me what it means to live. I suggest you two do the same for each other."

"R-right." Asuna and I said simultaneously.

In that precise moment, Nexus arrived. "Alright, Mikasa. I'm here. What did you want to talk about?"

For the next few minutes, we al, filled Nexus in on the situation. He didn't say a word throughout the entire explanation, and stayed that way for half a minute once we were done.

"Well, as much as I don't want to get involved in this, I have a single question." He said. He hesitated, as if he was making sure his decision was the right one. After a small while, he spoke again.

"What are we doing here, when we could already be on our way there?" he asked with a smile.

* * *

**Aaaand there you have it! Another chapter of the same fanfic you people seem to enjoy for some reason, all within the space of a few minutes! Of course, I won't keep this rhythm up (the story would be finished by tomorrow, and yes, there is a planned ending), as it would be unreasonable to expect me to do so. Anyhow, don't forget to review, and thank you for all your support, it has kept what was gonna be a short, unfinished dream alive, instead becoming a steady story. Well, see ya!**

**Edit: I'll be taking a month off or so from fanfiction writing. This is because I am currently helping on the Katawa Shoujo: Spanish translation project. As some of you probably know, it's no short piece of work, but I promise I'll be back.**


End file.
